Marco Silva’s side’s wastefulness in front of goal cost them at the Emirates on Sunday as they were left to rue as series of missed chances in a 2-0 defeat which means a wait for victory at Arsenal will extend into a 23rd year.

Neville says he is concerned by his old club’s lack of firepower but says their big summer signing should stay where he is as his contribution down the flanks to try and alleviate the issue could still be key report the Liverpool Echo .

He told BBC Sport : “I don’t think Silva should be worried about his future, but a good striker can mean a manager keeps his job.

“I am sure his predecessors at the club - Ronald Koeman , David Unsworth and Sam Allardyce - would agree, and it is imperative Everton address the problem in the January transfer window.

“In the meantime, it has been suggested they could play Richarlison in a more central role to increase their goal threat.

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“I actually think that with him and Theo Walcott in the team, Everton have got genuine quality on the wings, with pace and unpredictability that can frighten the opposition.

“I would hate to see Everton lose that, and I would keep using them wide in the way they operated at the Emirates.”

Neville added: “Gylfi Sigurdsson has to be at number 10. We saw last season that he cannot play as effectively on the left, and when you have got him behind the striker you need speed around him so that when he receives the ball you have people running in behind the opposition defence.

“That is what Richarlison and Walcott do so well and they showed it again against Arsenal, which is part of the reason I am still so optimistic about Everton’s prospects.”

Gylfi Sigurdsson in action during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Everton FC at Emirates Stadium on September 23, 2018 (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Everton were undone at the Emirates by goals from Alexandre Lacazette (£46.5m) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56.5m) who were brought in by Arsenal for a combined cost of over £100m and Neville reckons that the Blues should have adopted a similar policy when it came to try and replace Romelu Lukaku .

He said: “It is not as though Everton have been scrimping in the transfer market recently either, because they have spent that kind of money on a midfielder and a wide man in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison in the same timeframe.

“They are an ambitious club, but strikers are where you should throw most of your money if you want to be successful in the Premier League and that has not happened at Goodison Park.

“I know they tried to sign Olivier Giroud from Arsenal before he eventually joined Chelsea , and another Gunners forward Alexis Sanchez was also a target before he moved to Manchester United .

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“But those deals did not get over the line and the end result is that Everton do not have the calibre of striker they need to lead their line.

“Instead, they have a young player who is still developing in Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun, a striker who cost £27m because he does not have the same quality or pedigree as Lacazette or Aubameyang.

“Tosun was a gamble, while if they had signed either Giroud or Sanchez they would have been guaranteed goals.

“Everton no longer have a 25-goal striker like Lukaku, of course, but that will not be such an issue if the other forward players can chip in with goals to reach that total between them.”